Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when an external force traumatically injures the brain. TBI is common in soldiers in military training and combat, as well as athletes participating in sporting events, among other activities. TBI related symptoms can be somatic such as headache, dizziness, sleep disturbance, balance problems, nausea, fatigue, and cognitive deficits. Balance and orientation are maintained through the coordination of vestibular function, vision, and proprioception among which the vestibular system plays a critical role because its dysfunction will override the inputs from the other two systems. A TBI, especially a blast injury to the head can result in dysfunction in peripheral and/or central vestibular system that affect a person's ability to maintain postural balance.
A fast and accurate assessment of the balance and vestibular function of individuals that have sustained TBI can help reach a more accurate diagnosis sooner and aid in efficient and accurate triaging. There are many existing clinical tools and bedside tests that have been proven useful in assessment in individuals with TBI. However, administering such tests usually requires specific training and experience that an individual on-site may not possess. Moreover, many of these existing tests involve subjective evaluation of the examiner and provide qualitative measures that may complicate analysis and could yield poor inter-rater consistency. Although the more severe forms of TBI are often identified and triaged immediately, mild TBI (mTBI), which is also known as a concussion, can be easily missed or overlooked given there are frequently no obvious signs of injury. The absence of an early and accurate diagnosis places service members and sports players at risk for recurrent head trauma and delayed treatment, which could potentially lead to more significant injuries. Therefore, there is a need for a system that is capable of quickly obtaining on-site objective and quantitative data for balance and vestibular function for individuals with TBI may be desirable.